Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$77.18.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GWO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$64.00 to C$77.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$83.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Desjardins raised their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$71.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD raised their price objective on Great-West Lifeco from C$73.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great-West Lifeco

In other news, Director Mei Dong sold 39,400 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$76.33, for a total transaction of C$3,007,402.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,721 shares in the company, valued at C$207,693.93. The trade was a 93.54% decrease in their position. Also, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of Great-West Lifeco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total value of C$2,945,368.98. 70.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of GWO stock opened at C$79.40 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$69.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$66.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.57. The firm has a market capitalization of C$71.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59. Great-West Lifeco has a fifty-two week low of C$49.78 and a fifty-two week high of C$79.96.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$8.37 billion for the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.86%. Research analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great-West Lifeco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Great-West Lifeco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Great-West Lifeco’s payout ratio is presently 53.76%.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

Great-West Lifeco is one of the three big Canadian life insurance firms. With just under half of the firm’s profit and revenue in Canada, Great-West also operates in the U.S. and Europe. In Canada, Great-West provides both individual and group insurance. In the United States, Great-West operates Putnam Investments and defined-contribution recordkeeping firm Empower Retirement. In 2020, Great-West announced it would acquire Personal Capital and MassMutual’s recordkeeping business. In Europe, Great-West offers life insurance, annuities, and reinsurance primarily in the U.K., Ireland, and Germany.